Machine fob



UNITE SATES PATENT OFFT@ 1 THOMAS DURDEN, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

MACHINE FOR FELLING- TREES.

Speeication of Letters Patent No. 18,568, dated September 18', 1855.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS DURDEN, of Montgomery, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Alabama, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Felling Trees; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full., clear, and exact descript-ion of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l, is -a top view of a machine forfelling trees constructed after my invention. In this View the machineis represented as in t-he act of felling a tree. Fig. 2, is an end viewof the same. Fig. 3, is a vertical longitudinal section through thecenter of the machine. In this View the machine is also represented asin operation.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of theseveral figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment, for the purposeof felling trees, of a series of cutters on a shaft which has a rapidrevolving motion, and simultaneously therewith, a slow forward movementimparted to it by mechanism substantially the same as hereinafterdescribed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, in the accompanying drawing represents the platform upon which themachine is constructed. B, the vertical revolving shaft which carriesthe radial critters C, C, O, C, which project out horizontally from itas shown. This shaft rests on a sliding metallic standard or bearing D,and has its upper end turning in a cross head E, attached fast to thestandard D, by means of two rods F, F, as represented, in order that itmay be moved back and forth.

G, is a small bevel wheel secured fast on the shaft B, and I-I, a largerbevel wheel arranged ona horizontal sliding shaft I, and gearing intothe bevel wheel G, and thus giving motion to the cutters when themachine is in operation.

J, is the main driving shaft; it is arranged directly under the shaft I,on a stationary metallic standard D, as represented and has a screw K,cut on its front end which works in a female thread a, cut in themovable st-andard D. On the rear end of this shaft' a barrel pinion L,is secured which works into a pinion M, on the sliding shaft I, and thuscommunicates a rapid rotary motion to the cutters, while the screwcauses them to be fed slowly forward, up to the tree. y

The rods F, FLeXtend back some distance and pass loosely through thestationary standard D', and serve as guides to the movable standard, inits back and forward movement.

By examining the drawing, it will be seen that the cutters are formed orsecured on radial arms which are of greater length than the diameter ofthe tree and therefore are capable ofcutting entirely through the treewithout the necessity of shifting the position of the machine. It willalso be seen that the cutters are different in form,

those C, O, which I denominate t-he main cutters or workers beingconcave or grooved and serving for performing the cutting operation,while those O, O, which I call the assistant cut-ters or clearers,serving for clearing out the chips as fast as the cutting is performed.

By the employment of cutters and clearers as just stated and giving thema rapid revolving motion, the liability of their being cramped by theweight and sap of the tree is very materially lessened. And by theemployment of the screw on the driving shaft and combining it with thegearing G, H, L, M, t-he machine is much simplified, greatly reduced insize and rendered less liable to derangement.

N, represents the dog, by which the machine is anchored to the tree.rlhe jaws N', N', of this dog turn on fulcra Z), Z), and each has a stopor projection o, cast on it which after the jaws are inserted in a holebored in' the tree is forced laterally into the tree, by driving a wedgebetween the jaws as shown and thus prevent all possibility of themachine moving while the tree is being felled.

Operation: The machine having been placed in a proper position and thejaws of the dog forced into the auger hole formed in the tree andconfined, as shown, by a wedge, motion is communicated to the drivingshaft J, by hand or otherwise, and transmit-ted by means of the barrelpinion L, and M, to the shaft I, which' instantly imparts a rapid rotarymotion to the cutter shaft through the bevel wheels G and I-I;simultaneous with the impartation of this motion, the screw K, causesthe movable standard and its attachments to have* a tion with thefeeding arrangement K, L, M,

slow feed-toward the tree and thus, as fast substantially as and for thepurpose set as the cutters make one cut they vare moved forth.

forward ready for another until the tree is 2. I likewise claimproviding each of the 15 5 out entirely through. The cutters C, C,actjaws of the dog with a projection and aring first, and those C, C',following after ranging anfl operating them, as shown for and preparingthe way for each new cut. the purpose set forth.

What I claim as my invention and desire TH. DURDEN. to secure by LettersPatent, is, /Vitnesses: 10 l. The employment of cutters C, C, C', J. I.DAVIDSON,

C', 0f the peculiar form shown, in combina- WV. G. ANDREWS.

